Handmade leather boot, part of the collection ‘Brave Hendrik’, 2019.
I address the stereotypical image of man and offer a new freedom for male identity. At birth you are placed in the box of gender identity and based on this box the first choices are made for you, pink or blue, Cinderella or Superman, short or long hair. In short, gender identity determines which values and norms society sets for you. With this collection I go beyond this characterisation in society and invite people to be brave and to embrace the freedom to show as many sides of themselves as possible. I believe people can have a much more fluid character than merely being categorised as male or female. My designs allow people to explore who or what they can be, and this takes courage.
All my designs are based on a 2D silhouettes, to then literally blow up this into a 3D form, this allows me to play with the transformation of 2D/3D.
